1st quarter sales taxes down $1.4M

St. Mary Parish’s first quarter sales and use tax collections were about $1.4 million below 2015’s first quarter, according to the monthly sales tax report.
Parish sales and use tax collections totaled $9.45 million for the first quarter of 2016. Officials collected $170,617 as a result of financial audits, the report said.
First quarter collections were down 13 percent compared to the $10.86 million collected in 2015’s first quarter, which included $656,184 from audits. Hotel sales taxes brought in $127,491 during March, an 11.4 percent decrease from the $143,957 collected in March 2015.
The downturn in the oil and gas industry has contributed to 17 straight months of declining sales tax collections compared to the same month of the prior year.
Parish Economic Development Director Frank Fink said he expects the area’s economic climate will begin to gradually improve with the possibility of more substantial improvement by the summer of 2017. Fink hopes the price of oil will get to $60 per barrel next year. The price of oil is currently around $40 per barrel, he said.
In March, collections totaled $2.75 million, a 15.2 percent drop from the $3.25 million collected in March 2015. Collections as a result of audits were $55,421 in March, while March 2015 audit collections came in at $197,043.
March’s hotel sales tax collections saw $45,192 come in, down 7.1 percent from $48,642 collected in March 2015.
Morgan City’s 0.3 percent sales tax for roads brought in $56,119 in March, while year-to-date collections on that sales tax totaled $250,725. In 2015, that road tax accumulated $74,492 during March and $243,552 for the first quarter.
In February, parish sales tax collections totaled $2.48 million, down 13.4 percent from the $2.87 million collected in February 2015. The parish didn’t collect any money in February as a result of financial audits. In February 2015, officials collected $5,057 from audits.
February’s hotel sales taxes brought in $42,256 during February, a 14.6 percent drop from $49,467 collected in February 2015.
January’s parish sales tax collections had the smallest monthly decrease since March 2015. The parish collected a total of $4.21 million in sales and use taxes during January, an 11.2 percent decrease from the $4.75 million collected in January 2015. January’s hotel sales tax revenues declined by 12.7 percent, dropping from $45,848 in January 2015 to $40,043.
The following occupational licenses were filed in March 2016: City of Morgan City, $143,978; St. Mary Parish, $121,561; Town of Berwick, $30,770; City of Franklin, $28,254; City of Patterson, $8,247; and Town of Baldwin, $6,174.